-Big future loss-Peyton Florine 5'9" F; IMO, best So. in the program this coming year, on track as starting F for '18-'19 and '19-'20, has moved away. Galesburg always short on post players; compounds problem.

-I think that offense is going to be a prime concern. You have to make the defense guard sideline to sideline; helps open up the post. McCarthy at 2G, Sampson at W, and Meinert in post, I believe, achieves this better than other combinations.

-Play a good team tomorrow. Perhaps Massey might go to a more settled player rotation.

Barring revisions:
-With Raina gone, Springfield returns; have to wait for the schedule to come out to find out if Galesburg plays them in the Thanksgiving Tournament.
-For the first time in as long as I can remember, Morton is not coming......hmmm.

For me, watching summer ball is aggravating. I get caught between my heart and my head. As a fan, I want my team to win, and for the coach to coach the game that way. On the other hand, I know that summer ball isn't about winning. It's about the coach experimenting and learning about his team. For the players, it's about understanding what the coach wants from them, and progression in their individual skills and cohesion as a team. Especially in Galesburg's case this year with so many inexperienced players.

In last night's game, collectively, they were extremely aggressive on both ends of the floor. Meinert and Mixon were strong inside. As a group, the guards shot well, especially Campbell.

U-High didn't show up when they were supposed to. So Galesburg had to end up playing Rock Falls twice. Cr#p!. That would have been a good test to get a better idea of where they are right now.

-They played good, solid team defense again today; getting over the top of screens and good help.
-Meinert and Mixon played well. Meinert had numerous post-ups; strong inside defensively. Mixon did well as the #2 post option and strong weakside rebounder. She's a tough rebounder on both ends of the floor.
-Campbell shot well from the 3pt. line. Sampson was a little more active today. A couple jumpers, and strong getting inside off the dribble a couple times.
-Meinert's footwork is improving; quicker with her offensive moves.

Bloomington Central Catholic decided not to show up at the last minute. Total b#llsh#t.
Galesburg ended up having to play a pick-up game against the graduated Srs. and a couple guys off the street.

Coming up (maybe):

Tomorrow
Peoria Central
-Last season- 18-12 lost to Morton in the Regional
-Lost the heart of the team- Bradley signee Jailynn Lawson 5'10" G and Mackenzie Jenkins 5'11" F.
-Return several players who started at one time or another: Derria Edwards 5'1" G, Jaylyssa Timothy 5'5" G, Shcoria Metts 5'9" F, Destiny Evans 5'9" F, and Moriah Ward 6'0" F.
-Even with the losses, I expect them to be the same type team they have always been: quick, athletic, pressing, trapping; and Coach Edwards yelling when they have defensive lapses.

Central pressed full court and trapped half court almost entire game; quickness overwhelmed Galesburg in the 1st half; reacted better in 2nd half. Every shot Galesburg got was under pressure. Gs shot poorly; Meinert worked extremely hard in the post, converting several layups under heavy pressure. Central can be erratic offensively; generate a lot of offense from press. Edwards shoots well from the 3pt. line; Ward was a strong presence inside.

Springfield High grad Raina Gully will be playing basketball at Haverford College(D-III), a private co-ed liberal arts college, in Haverford, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia.

-Offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in 31 majors across humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Senior thesis required for graduation.
-A member of the Tri-College Consortium which allows students to register for courses at both Bryn Mawr College and Swarthmore College.
-US News deemed Haverford's admissions as "most selective" with the class of 2021; 95% of those admitted were in the top 10% of their high school class.
-2016 Forbes' "Top Colleges" ranked Haverford 8th among liberal arts colleges.

Springfield
-Galesburg played a great game against Springfield. Meinert was exceptional vs. Springfield's big F Ratch. They played tough, aggressive team defense. They executed their #1 option, posting up Meinert, very well vs. Springfield's tough m-t-m. The young Gs played well. Legge was very aggressive trying to get inside off the dribble. She's a tough kid.
-Tie game- go figure.
-A primary concern, ball handling vs. press, showed up when Springfield went to the fc press late in the game; as it did vs. Central on Thursday.
-The inexperienced, 1st-year varsity players are doing a good job improving in blending in with the returnees, Meinert and Sampson, to form a cohesive unit.

I'm still irked that they weren't able to play Normal Community and Bloomington Central Catholic. They would have provided very tough competition. I imagine Massey wanted to schedule them because they both have size and strength inside. I think one of his priorities this summer is to present constant challenges to Meinert and Mixon.

Last Night
-Massey used the full roster against two small schools- Orion and Monmouth-Roseville. These small schools come out with insane intensity vs. Galesburg. It takes a few minutes to get them subdued.
-I guess he feels the players need as much playing time as possible in the rolls they would play in regular game situations. A few tweeks in lineup combinations and individual minutes.

Thursday
-Scheduled to play the full roster against two small schools- Knoxville and Abingdon.

Central- Their quickness and pressure defense (fc press and 1/2 court trap) attack Galesburg's most glaring weakness. Galesburg must do a much better job of ball handling and executing press break than first game.

Knoxville-Galesburg- more intensity. Knoxville outmatched Galesburg in this respect in their last game.

Central
As in the first game, Galesburg had major problems executing vs. Central's fc press.
-Ball handler coming up the court allows herself to be funneled to the sideline, and cut off in the corner where the sideline crosses the center court line, and picks up her dribble.
-At the same time, the Central player who has been playing at the back of the press on that side of the court comes up to trap.
-At this point, one of three things usually happened:
(1) The ball handler was stripped of the ball.
(2) Tried to pass over the player coming up to trap to the Galesburg player who had dropped back into their front court.
(3) Tried to reverse the ball back to the middle of the back court.
-All of these had negative results the majority of the time.
(2) and (3) are what you are supposed to do if you can't advance the ball past half court off the dribble, but you have to make that decision sooner before you dribble into the trap and pick up your dribble.
-When Galesburg was able to advance the ball into their offensive zone, it was usually more in scramble mode than under control.

Washington
-The team didn't come in until just before game time, so I wasn't able to chat with Coach H. as I had last summer.
-Sonnemaker was not there, so that impacted the game. Disappointed-would have liked to play them full strength.
-Ely starting PG. Although small, she is extremely quick, excellent ball handler. Very good at getting the ball to the right player at the right time. If she's open, she will hit the '3'.
-The Fs were slender, both about 5'9" (Peters and Harlan ?). One had kind of a bushy ponytail. I imagine, with Sonnemaker in the game, they would be more on perimeter than post.
-The others were small to average size.
-Having not talked to Coach H., don't know if they were missing any other players.
-Played aggressive, sound m-t-m in 1st half. Most of 2nd half, played 2-3. Without Sonnemaker, Meinert hurt them inside in 1st half.
-Offensively, played a well-executed controlled motion offense. As would be expected, lacked post game in Sonnemaker's absence.
-Ely took most of the outside shots.

-Meinert is the cornerstone; #1 option; vs. good teams, may have to play 30 mins.; going to get beat up, doubled; fatigue a concern.
-Aside from Meinert, offense in general, outside shooting in particular, an unknown. Need guards(Sampson, Campbell, Legge, McCarthy) to step up.
-In general, can be a good defensive team; aggressive, sound fundamentals; can get lost on switch/recover on screens at times.
-Improvement needed: (1) execution vs. fc press and 1/2 court trap; (2) better footwork, squaring shoulders to basket to prepare to catch-and-shoot, quicker release.
-If the season started today-starters: Meinert 5'11" F, Mixon 5'10" F, Sampson 5'6" Wing, Legge 5'7" PG, Campbell 5'7" 2G. Barring injuries, defections, residence in the doghouse, can't see many alternatives.
-Most improved players over the course of the summer:Emily Meinert 5'11" F-improved footwork; stronger posting up, going to the rim; rugged defender/rebounder.Kelsi Legge 5'7" PG-improved at getting team into the offense; stronger getting inside off the dribble; improving jumper; solid defensively.
-All of the top 8 players have the potential to be very solid varsity players if they committed 100% to basketball.
-A lot of volleyball players on this team(all the post players: Meinert, Mixon, Huppenbauer, Range). An alternate utilization of the gym facilities in the fall would be a worthwhile consideration.
-Considering where they were at the start of summer ball, as a group the team made good overall, though inconsistent, progress. All of them gave 100% effort all the time.
-Relative to the level of competition they will face during the season, they have a ways to go.